One day, I will finally get around to that essay explaining why this year, I've become a far more rabid repertory-cinema moviegoer, while lessening my intensity in keeping up with new releases. There are many reasons for this, but one of them is, simply put: Seeing older films in theaters, more often than not, can restore my faith in the possibilities of this great medium in ways few of the new releases are doing these days. Don't take that as a judgment call on 2010 releases, though, of which I already have much to catch up on. (Among my many, many blind spots: the 1980 and '83 installments of the Red Riding trilogy, No One Knows About Persian Cats, The Father of My Children, Winter's Bone...and, of course, Dogtooth.) Sure, not very many new releases I've seen have truly excited me (not even celebrated foreign/indie fare like Everyone Else and Exit Through the Gift Shop, to be honest)...but then, it seems to me that every year offers up a few gems amidst a load of crap, and this year doesn't seem much different.
Until this year is officially out, then, here are some of my favorite filmgoing experiences from the past six months...both new releases and repertory theatrical discoveries.
In alphabetical order:
Midyear Film Reckoning, Favorite 2010 Releases:
45365
Bluebeard
Chloe
Greenberg
Ghost Town
Ondine
Shutter Island
Sweetgrass
Vincere
Midyear Film Reckoning, Favorite 2010 Repertory Theatrical Discoveries:
Bigger Than Life (1956)
Boudu Saved from Drowning (1932)
A Brighter Summer Day (1991)
Close-Up (1990)
The Cremaster cycle (1995-2002)
A Day in the Country (1936)
I Was Born, But... (1932)
The Complete Metropolis (1927)
The Naked Spur (1953)
World on a Wire (1973)
Midyear Film Reckoning, Favorite 2010 DVD Discoveries:
Colossal Youth (2006)
Here's to another six months of great movies, both new and old!
Midyear Film Reckoning, Favorite 2010 Repertory Theatrical Discoveries:
Midyear Film Reckoning, Favorite 2010 DVD Discoveries:
Here's to another six months of great movies, both new and old!
2 comments:
So Naked Spur made the cut, but not Winchester '73. Is that the case or was the latter just over-shadowed by the other three films you saw that day? Spur is a little more intense than Winchester '73, though both are pretty good movies.
Jeffrey:
Both of them are great...but, as much as I enjoyed the narrative hopscotching of Winchester '73, yeah, I did find The Naked Spur more intense. In fact, at the end, as Jimmy Stewart's vengeance-driven exterior finally cracks, I was so moved that I felt an honest-to-God lump in my throat. So yeah, I guess you could say that movie overshadowed the other (though it didn't overshadow the Rivette film I saw that same day).
Post a Comment